


Kuro In Wonderland...Or Something

by Priestlyislove



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: An absolute fuckton of magic, Animal Transformation, Cat!Fai, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff, KuroFai, M/M, One shot (probably), Plot is just a backdrop for cuteness, Shrinking/growing bc I'm weak as a person, Unresolved plot, disgustingly fluffy tbh, self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 02:59:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9157063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Priestlyislove/pseuds/Priestlyislove
Summary: "I don't suppose you're the one talking to me," Kurogane mumbled, looking up at it."And why not?" Okay, the cat was definitely talking. It stood up and stretched. Leaping from one small jutted out rock to another, it made his way down to him. Its tail swished and it almost looked like it was grinning. "I'm sure you've seen weirder."





	

"Not too graceful, huh?" A playful voice cooed down at him. Kurogane was lying on the ground, after having fallen for what felt like a lifetime. He opened his eyes, half expecting the owner of the voice to be Fai. But he didn't see anyone. It didn't sound like Fai anyway. He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. His mind felt a little fuzzy. He looked around. He was in a deep hole. The walls were dark and covered in ridges. Sitting on one ledge was a cat, which he almost didn't notice, since it was the same color as the stone behind it. But it's yellow eyes were practically glowing.

"I don't suppose you're the one talking to me," Kurogane mumbled, looking up at it.

"And why not?" Okay, the cat was definitely talking. It stood up and stretched. Leaping from one small jutted out rock to another, it made his way down to him. Its tail swished and it almost looked like it was grinning. "I'm sure you've seen weirder."

Kurogane sighed. This was weird, but like it said, it wasn't the weirdest thing he's had to deal with on the group's travels. "I guess it's right."

The cat's ears flicked. "I'm not an 'it.' I'm-" instead of speaking, suddenly all that came out of his mouth was meows. He looked surprised with himself.

"Can you repeat that?" Kurogane asked absentmindedly, busy figuring that he couldn't have been separated from the group too far if Mokona was still translating this much for him. Hopefully his companions were safe wherever they were.

The cat tried a couple other things, getting the same result. He paced back and forth in front of Kurogane. "I should've guessed this much. Guess I am a bit of an airhead." He sat back down. He meowed and paused. "Not even that much, huh?" He said that to himself.

"I'm sorry, I think there's more than just the obvious miscommunication going on here." Kurogane butted in. He was trying to follow a talking cat's conversation with himself and was getting impatient with the whole concept.

The cat weighed his options in his mind. "What about you?" He asked, seemingly off topic. "Are you cursed?"

"What?" He wrinkled his nose.

"Maybe you can't talk about your curse, because that's the sort of curse it is." He choose his words rather carefully, and looked pleased when they all came out as words.

"I'm not cursed," Kurogane scoffed. "I just..." He stopped and thought. "How _did_ I get here? Damn it." His memory wasn't clear. They had been in a fight, he remembered. Syaoran had stayed back to protect Sakura. He got separated from Fai. The feeling he got in his stomach when magic was being used. And then... "Maybe I was cursed."

The cat blinked. "You are unbelievably thick. Astonishingly so."

"Hey!" He swiped at him, but he jumped out of the way.

The cat didn't put any effort into dodging him, sounding bored and unfocused, "This is absolutely hopeless. You're a hopeless case, Kurogane."

Kurogane stopped trying to smack him. "How do you know my name?" A rather defeated sounding meow was his only response. Kurogane felt the gears turn in his head. Realization clicked. "Oh, _you're_ cursed!"

"Only took you forever." The cat faked a congratulatory tone.

"This isn't the sort of thing that usually happens to me." Kurogane spoke defensively. "You're lucky I got it at all."

"Black cats aren't known as being lucky." The cat pointed out. "I guess that's why I got stuck like this. I'm unlucky."

"You talk too much." Kurogane broke up his thoughts. "What you deserved, what you didn't, none of that matters. You can't mope around forever. Do you want to get out of this hole or not?" The cat hesitated briefly before nodding. "Then we've got the same objective. Let's work together."

"I wouldn't want it any other way." He padded over to one side. He sniffed at the air and walked to his left. He placed his paw on the wall. "Knock this down."

There was a beat of silence. "It's made of stone."

The cat seemed somewhat surprised and offended that Kurogane didn't do what he said without hesitation. "No, it's fake. Trust me. Knock it down."

Kurogane didn't have a lot to lose. He stood and walked over to it. He kicked at it experimentally and felt it give. He grinned and kicked it harder, and what ever was disguised as stone crumbled. It left a hole about three feet tall and wide. The cat started walking. "Let's go."

Kurogane knelt down and crawled through. It was a tight fit. "What even is this place?" He muttered to himself. He spoke up a little, "Hey, how did you know that part of the hole was fake?"

The cat glanced back at him. "Don't you remember anything? This is a test, honey. There's got to be a way out wherever we end up. It wouldn't be fair otherwise. Plus," He said with a swish of his tail, "I'm magic."

"Glad I have a magic talking cat to condescend me through this place," he grumbled. He's pretty sure the cat laughed, but he was still a cat, so his laugh didn't really sound like a laugh. More like a gleeful yowl. "That was almost cute."

"Oh, I'm going to hold that over you forever." He still sounded delighted.

This tunnel felt unnecessarily long. He'd glance back to see how far they've gone, but he couldn't see well over his shoulder in the small space. He focused on the conversation instead. "So, are you being tested too? Is that why you're cursed?"

"Sweetheart, I can't go into the details, remember?" The cat reminded him. "If I say anything, it'll get lost in translation." 

Magic was tricky business. "At least tell me why you've started with the petnames."

"Kurogane is too serious of a name. I don't like using it." The cat responded quickly, as if he had already thought his answer through. "Petnames suit you better."

"You remind me of another magic idiot I know." Kurogane couldn't help but wonder where Fai was. Was he going through some bizarre test too? Or maybe he was watching him from somewhere else, laughing his ass off. "What's your name, anyway?"

He paused verbally but continued moving forward. "I'm not allowed to say."

Now the magic had gone from ridiculous to straight up inconveniencing. "I can't just keep calling you cat."

"Well, if you name me, you'll have to take me home." He joked. Finally, they reached the end of the tunnel. The opening on this side was smaller and Kurogane just barely squeezed through. Now they were in a well lit room with a big table in the center, a chair pulled out next to it. The cat began inspecting all the corners of the room and Kurogane made his way over to the table. There was a vial full of liquid with a tag on it. He flipped it over to see it read 'Drink Me'. There was also a little bag with a teacake inside. It had a tag that said 'Eat Me'.

Kurogane had learned from their travels that the solution was rarely easy, but often weird. If he didn't try every stupid option that presented itself, he would get stuck here for sure.

"If I die, avenge me," he called out absentmindedly to the cat. Not being a big sweets person, he opted for the vial. He smelled it. It didn't smell like anything. He took a sip, and it was sickly sweet and almost syrup like in consistency. He recapped it, but the damage was done.

The room started to stretch out around him. He took a step back, disorientated. He dropped the vial, but he didn't hear it break. Not like he could focus on anything besides the dizzying visuals. He covered his eyes before he got a migraine, stumbling back another step. The cat called out to him, but he couldn't make out what he said.

When he opened his eyes again, the room had stopped growing. It was obvious to him that the room did not grow at all, but it was him who shrunk. The vial lay next to him. It was slightly bigger than he was. Not what he had been expecting to happen, at least.

"Aw!" The cat squeaked in delight. Kurogane jumped a little. He turned to see that the cat was now much larger than he was. He was crouched down, looking like he wanted to pounce him. "You're so cute! Oh, I like this room!"

He rolled his eyes. He didn't have time to take in the full weirdness of the situation. He craned his neck to look up at the table. "Maybe the cake will reverse this."

"What if it makes it worse?" The cat tilted his head at him, still in his perpetual state of amusement. It clearly didn't matter to him what happened to Kurogane.

"Then it makes it worse. Unlike you, I can't sit back and do nothing when I'm cursed." He started walking over. Even though he had been right next to the table, now that he was smaller, the distance was a lot more significant. He wasn't sure what he was planning to do when he got there. He was too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice that he had shut the cat up.

Suddenly, the cat raced past him, hopping up on the chair and then onto the table. "Don't get your miniature panties in a twist, I'll save you." He came back down with the bag in his teeth. He placed it down next to him and sat back to watch.   
Kurogane opened the bag and practically crawled inside. He grabbed a handful of the cake. He shrugged, having nothing to lose, and shoved it into his mouth. It tasted weirdly salty.

He just barely got out of the bag before the process started again. Much faster than he shrunk, he found himself back to his regular size. "So what was the point of that?" He asked himself, and the cat, and just the room in general. Maybe he was directing that question at whatever deities were in charge of his life.

"Well, I didn't find a nice hole in the wall this time, but I did find this." The cat led him over to one wall with a tiny door at its base. "Maybe that's what those are for." Kurogane nodded and went back to grab the vial. The cat followed him. His tail flicked indignantly. "Don't I get a thank you? If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been able to get back to that height at all."

"Somehow I feel like you did that out of self perseveration, not the goodness of your heart," he responded incredulously.

"I don't do anything out of self preservation, believe me." He started to lick his paw lazily, bored with following Kurogane around. "Still, regardless of my intentions, I did help you out. That should earn a thank you."

Kurogane went over and grabbed the cake. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." The cat responded, satisfied. "Was that so hard?"

"You talk to me like we're friends." Kurogane commented.

"That's just how I talk with everyone." The cat said, disinterested.

"But I respond like we're friends." Kurogane made his way back over and sat down. "Why do I do that?"

"I won't pretend to understand how your brain works. I'm not sure it works at all." The cat stopped grooming himself to look up at him. "But keep up that line of thinking, sugar. We might not be in here for quite so long after all."

He let out an irritated sigh. "I know you're limited in what you can say, but I think you just like being a little shit."

The cat went back to grooming himself, smugly unapologetic. Kurogane took a deep breath and drank from the vial again. He closed his eyes immediately to avoid the vertigo. When it was over, he stood up and opened his eyes. "The vial shrunk with me this time," he thought aloud.

"It's not that complicated, dollface. If it's touching you, it'll shrink too. That's why you're not naked." He offered up.

"Are you going to drink it?" Kurogane held out the vial.

"And get smaller than this? No thanks." He eyed the door. "I'll be able to squeeze through. I'm mostly fluff."

Kurogane made his way over to the door, pushing it open with ease. He walked through. "The way you worded that made it sound like you're not usually this height. So can I ask, are you a cursed magic cat, or a cursed something else?"

The cat, true to his word, squeezed through the opening without much trouble. "I'll have to go with the latter, but that's quite an ineloquent way to put it."

Kurogane took out the cake, taking a bite. Once again, he was back to normal. "If I have to do anything else like that, I'll puke." He tried to shake off the feeling of magical residue inside him. "God, I hate this magic crap." He turned his attention back to the cat, who was watching him, amused. "So is the curse just that you're a cat, or is there more to it?" The cat meowed. "Right. I'll figure it out, don't worry."

He flicked his tail. His amusement faded a little. "Why are you trying to help me?"

Kurogane quirked an eyebrow. "That's what we're doing, isn't it? Helping each other get out?"

"Yeah, but this has nothing to do with escaping." The cat pointed out, and Kurogane couldn't believe how oblivious the poor thing was being.

"Look, man, getting turned into a cat sounds pretty sucky. I'm not just going to leave you like that." Kurogane scratched the back of his head. "And if I can't figure it out, I've got friends who can help."

The cat laughed a little. "You really are such a softie."

"Alright, alright, let's just get a move on." Kurogane surveyed the room. There didn't seem to be anything in it, but the wall opposite of them appeared to be dripping. Maybe oozing was a better way to describe it. Kurogane walked over to it, experimentally reaching his hand out to touch it. They were silent for a moment.

"Well?" The cat asked. "What is it?"

"My hand's stuck." Kurogane admitted.

"Of course it is."

Kurogane tried to pull away, but whatever viscous liquid was coating this wall held him in place. He sighed. "Guess the only way out is through."

"Why would you think-why is that the first-in what world-" he couldn't even begin to properly describe how bad of an idea that was, but Kurogane didn't care. He let himself sink in farther, until his entire arm was gone. He tried to pull it out again, and it wouldn't budge. The cat cried exasperatedly, "Would you stop that?"

"What? Don't tell me you care about me?" He smirked. "Aw, looks like you're the softie." He stuck his leg in next.

"I don't have to care to be physically pained by your stupidity." The cat shot him down. Kurogane just got his other leg in there.

"It's not so bad." He glanced down at his incredulous face. "There's nothing else _to_ do in this room. We might as well."

"Sure, yeah, when I'm out of options, I let myself get sucked into a goo wall, that's normal." His voice was drenched in sarcasm, but there was still a hint of real concern behind it.

Kurogane let it swallow up his other arm. "Are you coming or not?" He said to him before taking a deep breath and plunging his head into it. He couldn't see anything, but there was a warm sensation. And then, he was in another room, dry and unaffected. "That went about as well as it could've." He said to himself, bemused. He glanced back to call to the cat, and realized the wall behind him was solid.

"Shit!" Kurogane hit at the wall, trying to see if it would turn back into that goo. No such luck. He yelled, "Can you hear me? I'll get you out of there!"

"That's sweet, angel," the voice came from above him, "but I'm okay."

Kurogane looked up to see about ten feet above him was the ceiling, where the cat hung upside down like a bat. Well, he was standing like a cat, but being upside down on the ceiling evoked the image of a bat. "How'd you get up there?"

"I'd ask you the same question, but I think we both know the answer." The cat started to walk the other way. "I jumped in after you. For some reason, it spat me out up here." He stopped briefly. "I just thought I'd rather die together than live alone, or whatever. That's the only reason I jumped."

Kurogane didn't respond, partially because he didn't know how someone would respond to that. He just started walking in the same direction. Kurogane thought he'd be grateful for the silence. And yet he found himself wishing he knew what to say. Thankfully, the silence didn't last long.

"There's a key on the ground." The cat said. Kurogane instinctively looked down, then he realized he probably meant his ground. There was in fact a key on the ceiling.

"Great, pick it up."

"Do you know what cats are?" He spoke with mock concern. "I've got bad news dear, we don't have hands."

"I know that." Maybe the silence hadn't been so bad. "I meant with your mouth."

"I don't ask _you_ to put weird things in your mouth." The cat shot back, but picked it up anyway.

"There's probably something to do with it up ahead," Kurogane offered up. He realized this was obvious the moment the words were out of his mouth. But the cat didn't tease him for it, because his mouth was full, so it wasn't a total loss. He continued, "You know, I'm a fighter. Never been a big fan of puzzles. Or magic. Definitely not magic puzzles, that's for sure. I don't know how I ended up in a crazy place like this."

"Oo wewe mufah hif oh heh haw."

"I didn't get a word of that."

The cat spat out the key. Instead of falling to Kurogane's feet, it remained on the ceiling with him. This place clearly had its own rules. "I said, you really must've hit your head hard. You don't remember anything?"

"I'm not an amnesiac, I remember everything about myself and my past. Just not how I got here, apparently."

"Maybe it would've been cheating if you remembered." The cat mused, cryptic and unhelpful as ever. He picked back up the key and kept walking.

"Hey, this conversation isn't over." Kurogane persisted, following him yet again. "You can't say something like that and just leave me hanging. Do _you_ know why I'm here?" The cat meowed and Kurogane huffed. "I feel like you did that on purpose."

Before he could have a longer one sided argument, the long room came to a sudden stop with a door. It was six feet tall, and no door on the flip side where the cat was. The door had a keyhole and a knob. Twisting the knob got no results. "Try throwing me the key."

For once, the cat didn't bicker with him. He did his best to toss the key downwards, or upwards, depending on who's point of view they were relying on. Sure enough, it fell into Kurogane's hand. He grinned and put it into the key hole on the door. It clicked open.

No obvious exit appeared up where the cat was. "Guess you have to jump." Kurogane held out his arms.

The cat wrinkled his nose. "What are you doing?"

"It's kind of crazy how foreign kindness seems to you. I'm going to catch you, you weirdo." He said it with the utmost disbelief and affection.

"You're the weird one. You don't even know me." The cat sighed. Then he took a step back. "Okay, knight in shining armor. Not apologizing if I scratch you."

And he leapt, gracefully twisting around midway so his feet were aimed at Kurogane's floor. Whether he'd land on his feet or not would never be known to either of them, because Kurogane caught him with ease. He carried him through the door. Another seemingly empty room. He spoke casually as he looked around, "You can forgive yourself, you know."

The cat went rigid in his arms. "What?"

"It's obvious you're blaming yourself for something bad. All that talk about being unlucky and stuff. You shouldn't."

"You don't know me," he echoed his own words softly. His voice got louder, goofy and playful again, "So what, are you my counselor now too? You must really like cats." Before Kurogane could respond, the cat pressed against his chest. "You can pet me, if you want."

And maybe Kurogane found it a _little_ weird to pet a talking creature, and maybe he realized this was just a diversion tactic, but he had been strangely tempted to feel his fur from the start. He was, as one could expect, soft.

Once he seemed satisfied, the cat bounced out of his arms and landed on the floor. "Now, let's figure out this one." They started to walk the perimeter, looking for any sort of clues. But, in a horrible moment all too fast, the floor beneath the cat crumbled and he fell with a yowl.

"Fai!" Kurogane yelled without thinking, leaping and reaching his hand out in an attempt to do, well, _something_.

Looking into the dark abyss below and hoping to see him, Kurogane was surprised yet again. Face to face with him was a wide-eyed Fai, levitating in the seemingly endless darkness. He giggled. Then his giggles turned into snorts.

"Only took you forever." He sounded like Fai. Kurogane reached out a tentative hand, fingers grazing his chest, making sure he was corporeal. He was really there.

"How?" Was all he could manage to say.

"I just needed someone to call me by my name." Fai smiled, as if that explained everything.

"You...were the cat." Kurogane still was processing.

"Right, let's clear up that foggy head." Still full of surprises, Fai grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him closer, kissing his forehead. He mumbled something in a language Kurogane didn't understand, and suddenly it all came rushing back.

_"I'm afraid we can't let you in. Our dear princess has an unfortunate_ condition _." His face was the unfortunate thing, and Kurogane was tempted to punch the look off of him. "She's afraid of adults. None are allowed into her court."_

_"That doesn't make any sense," Kurogane growled, impatient. Fai jabbed him with his elbow, a reminder to be polite. He sighed. "Is there anything we can do to prove we're not scary?"_

_"There is one loophole. She'll see any children, or anyone with the heart of a child. You have to prove you still retain a sense of innocence and playfulness." The guard continued, "she has prepared a sort of test for this situation._

_"That'll be easy!" Fai chirped. "Well, not for the big guy over here, but I'm in tune with my youthful side."_

_"So you'll do it?"_

_Kurogane sighed again. They didn't really have a choice. If what Mokona felt was right, the feather was somewhere in that girl's castle. "Fine, we'll do it."_

_"Wonderful. We just need to make a few adjustments." He said with a nervous smile. Another expression Kurogane wanted to smack off of him. He turned to Fai. "You're too old and powerful, I doubt she'll let you through regardless of how you do." Fai looked somewhat offended, and Kurogane wanted to ask what he meant by 'old,' but the man didn't stop there, "You just need to be less threatening. If she sees you as something she likes, I'm sure she'll find room in her heart for you. I'm sure you know the drill, mage, so I won't bother explaining the rules."_

_And with a few archaic syllables and frantic hand flicks, Fai was no longer at his side. He looked down to see a cat looking up at him, looking as surprised as he did. "What the hell?" Kurogane snarled, unsheathing his sword._

_"No weapons either." And his sword disappeared. He was about to tackle this guy anyway, when the ground beneath his feet opened up like a Venus flytrap. That's when he started falling. Fai watched him, still too shocked to move. "Best of luck, traveler!" The guard shouted down at him. "You'll catch on before you know it! Or, you won't..."_

"Fuck, how did I forget that asshole?" Kurogane was getting pissed just thinking about him. 

"It was magic." He explained simply. "This princess obviously has gotten her hands on some pretty powerful stuff." Fai started to float closer, and Kurogane stepped aside so he could land back down on solid ground. He was just as graceful and delicate as a human as he was a cat. He turned back to Kurogane with a grin. "Well don't just stand around. We've still got a test to complete."

Fai grabbed his hand and started dragging him along. Kurogane didn't pull away. He missed this. He missed Fai. "I'm glad you're back," he said softly, as if he didn't mean to say it out loud.

"Aw, Kuro-kun," Fai looked back at him again. His smile was sweet and not as patronizing as usual. "I never left."

And before thinking, before risking losing sight of him again, Kurogane pulled him into a kiss. Once he was past the initial shock, Fai laughed into it and kissed back. They pulled away, taking a moment to get lost in each other's eyes and whatnot.

"I'm glad I'm back too," Fai whispered, and they kissed again. Kurogane realized in that moment something he had always known but was too afraid to think; he wished he could keep this man at his side forever. Wishes were dangerous things, but he knew love was always stronger. So regardless the cost, he made sure to never let Fai go.


End file.
